Flying into Airventure 2016

SixPapaCharlie

SixPapaCharlie

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@tecprotb at the helm and me in the right seat, head spinning.
This was a new experience for sure. They talk. You listen and try not to mess it up.

Shame, the camera doesn't capture what we were seeing. Tremendous amount of planes in a small area "mostly" doing it right. This was Sunday around 2:00.

 
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Wait wait wait.... did they have you landing on the pink dot and the other plane behind you on the blue dot? Wow.
 
ircphoenix said:
Wait wait wait.... did they have you landing on the pink dot and the other plane behind you on the blue dot? Wow.
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Yes, 3 planes turning base at the same time on different dots on the same runway.
 
OMG. What happens if n can't hit the assigned dot or have to go around ... sounds like a stressful situation
 
OMG. After that, I think I could just putter around the LA basin to relax.
 
Sailing the North Atlantic in winter would be less stressful. Maybe driving, yep driving to Oshkosh sounds good.
 
I watched this again last night and same sentiments as on fb... nope! I'd love to do it with a more experienced pilot, but no thanks otherwise. Maybe in a few years.

Sounds like one guy was having a hard time with it... "I know you've been around once, sorry, buddy... nothing I can do." The ATC guy at least sounded nice considering what he was juggling. Was impressive listening to him.
 
Nothing like a challenge to get the blood flowing.
 
The guys you hear are on the ground with hand held radios. They are incredibly positive and never seen to lose their temper even when pilots are doing it wrong. At least 2 planes were flying around the holds in the wrong direction.
 
Thanks for posting. I've read the arrival procedures and tried to imagine what it must be like, especially with the listen-only and no-talk-back radio work.
 
Here is my take. Yes, its incredibly busy and insane being that close to a bunch of other planes in the air. Like the OP said, most are doing it right. Seriously, its a single file line over the tracks at one altitude and one airspeed, at least in my NOTAM. On my trips there, it was like a shotgun blast of planes all over. But, to me, hearing the words "rock your wings", and then "Welcome to Osh Kosh", are one of those moments that I will remember forever.
 
meh. I guess ive done more dangerous stuff, but it didnt seem that bad. There were lots of planes around. Keep your head on a swivel. Its really nice to ahve 2 people (pilots or experienced pax) to look for issues. Dont get too slow when you have to make that 30-45* bank from short base to final.

Basically be a decent pilot and go where you are supposed to go. Its not trapping the #3 wire in the dark, on a pitching deck. In a rainstorm.

Go to liveatc.net, pick sunday the 24t and Fisk Approach, 120.7 i think. Listen from about 1730-1830 Z for the mess that was the holds due to only having rwy 18L. Every time you here "90 knots" from a grumpy pilot you do a shot...lol. But really listen to how many times controllers talk about spacing, side by sides, over the tracks, not 1/2 mi south of them, etc. Its really not that bad, its the guys who DGAF or cant control the plane enough to fly the correct alt, airspeed and ground reference. Gotta watch for those dudes.

It was fun to go as PAX. I want to fly it one year myself.
 
We were standing just north of the 1000' marker on 27 all day Sunday (handheld radio in hand) and it was the craziest thing I've ever seen/heard. There were times when everything flowed great and it wasn't really that stressful and then there were times when all hell was breaking loose with people near colliding on final and trying to land on top of each other.
There were several times where planes were coming in non stop direct on 27 and non stop base to final on 27. The controllers said something to the effect of don't worry about spacing we'll figure it out at the runway. o_O
We saw a moony bounce and his gear collapse. We saw a plane (can't remember what kind) come within 5-10 feet of landing on a king air. The king air finally saw him and locked up the brakes and he landed about 20 yards in front of him.
When things got really crazy they had planes diving off the runway into the grass almost immediately after touchdown.

All that being said it was truly the coolest experience I've had to date in aviation. There was a group of 10 or so of us pilots who just watched in awe. You could look in any direction and the sky was littered with planes as far as you could see.
 
Cajun_Flyer said:
Ok, sold. I'm going next year.
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btw, I flew into Green Bay (GRB) and it was just a normal Class C airport with no stress so you don't have to do the OSH fun in order to go. I signed up a little late this year, but next year I'll fly into OSH early and park at the FBO.
 
MtnMarcus said:
Yeah me too. This sounds like to much fun to pass up.....
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It is!

We flew in two hours before this video, and it was a piece of cake. Up the tracks in line, wag your wings, turn right, fly the left downwind for Rwy 18R -- easy peasy.

The hardest part was the 3 mile taxi to the North 40.
 
tuwood said:
We were standing just north of the 1000' marker on 27 all day Sunday (handheld radio in hand) and it was the craziest thing I've ever seen/heard. There were times when everything flowed great and it wasn't really that stressful and then there were times when all hell was breaking loose with people near colliding on final and trying to land on top of each other.
There were several times where planes were coming in non stop direct on 27 and non stop base to final on 27. The controllers said something to the effect of don't worry about spacing we'll figure it out at the runway. o_O
We saw a moony bounce and his gear collapse. We saw a plane (can't remember what kind) come within 5-10 feet of landing on a king air. The king air finally saw him and locked up the brakes and he landed about 20 yards in front of him.
When things got really crazy they had planes diving off the runway into the grass almost immediately after touchdown.

All that being said it was truly the coolest experience I've had to date in aviation. There was a group of 10 or so of us pilots who just watched in awe. You could look in any direction and the sky was littered with planes as far as you could see.
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The show was even better from the slight elevation of the Red Barn, especially with all of the Ultralight folks sitting around judging landings. And the coffee/water was just few feet away.
 
JCranford said:
So, lemme get this straight Mr Ive-done-more-dangerous-stuff....Youve never flown it? OK
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I flew in a plane that did fly it, 2 sundays ago, when RWY 27 was closed and 18L was barely open, the ceilings were.....'legal' and Ripon was a mess. Several people who flew that day/time said it was the worst they had seen. If that was the worst, then most definitely I have done more dangerous stuff than that. Since I cant find a record of a mid-air over Ripon during Osh or other fatality related to that approach. I have road raced motorcycles for several years, and seen people killed at the track doing that. I did spend a few years at Ft. Bragg jumping from airplanes and saw people killed doing that.
Since there have been fatalities from both of those activities, compared to 0 for Ripon/Fisk, i would say Ive done more dangerous stuff than that approach.

My original point was more along the lines of, people freak out and say I'm never flying to OSH because that approach is so dangerous. Well, its not really. Just do what your supposed to, keep looking around and its ok. There are planes nearby. You may needd to move over a little for someone taht doesnt see you, etc.

Where you will die at OSH is in low level aggressive maneuvering trying to make the runway dot they ask for. Not in the approach segment. You are also more likely to die on the way to/from OSH, again not at Ripon/Fisk. If people said I dont want to fly into OSH because i may die on the flight in or out...ok thats fair. Or i suck at 45* base to final turns and i dont want to maneuver like that, great. Glad you understand your limitations.

Personally, I have only heard people get really worried about 'that approach', not the trip in/out and only slightly worried about 'hitting the dot'.

But thats my opinion. YMMV
 
@Cajun_Flyer here's a video capturing some of the fun. It's not my video and they're primarily capturing warbirds coming in.
I was almost exactly on the other side of the runway as this guy/gal that made the video. You're able to sit almost at the taxiway so you're very close to the action.
 
tuwood said:
All that being said it was truly the coolest experience I've had to date in aviation. There was a group of 10 or so of us pilots who just watched in awe. You could look in any direction and the sky was littered with planes as far as you could see.
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If ^^^^^THIS^^^^^ doesn't get your inner pilot to come out NOTHING will.

Never flew or met with anybody here. If someone is going from Florida next year I would do whatever it takes to make it happen and pay for unlimited drinks.
 
9th year in a row flying into KOSH. Sometimes it's a bit of a zoo (like the first Saturday/Sunday) but more often than not it is perfectly fine and lot of fun. This year was the second time I came in with an instrument clearance (very MVFR on Thursday morning) and that makes it just like flying into any other busy controlled airport.

A great time was had by all and it seemed like a pretty successful year. Cirrus sold 38-39 new planes (can't remember if it was 38 or 39) at the show this year!
 
RudyP said:
9th year in a row flying into KOSH. Sometimes it's a bit of a zoo (like the first Saturday/Sunday) but more often than not it is perfectly fine and lot of fun. This year was the second time I came in with an instrument clearance (very MVFR on Thursday morning) and that makes it just like flying into any other busy controlled airport.

A great time was had by all and it seemed like a pretty successful year. Cirrus sold 38-39 new planes (can't remember if it was 38 or 39) at the show this year!
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My wife and I spent a lot of time in the Cirrus tent. :cool:
 
Cajun_Flyer said:
Sounds like one guy was having a hard time with it... "I know you've been around once, sorry, buddy... nothing I can do." The ATC guy at least sounded nice considering what he was juggling. Was impressive listening to him.
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When I flew up in 2011, we were getting to RIPON right after the F-16 ran off the runway and broke up so they only had 27 open; we heard comments from guys circling the lake 6+ times and saying they'd have to divert for fuel if they were hung out much longer. But everything worked out just fine, the controllers are great. Had a fun moment when on downwind as the tower was trying to contact a random Mooney crossing the field at 1000', did not come from RIPON/FISKE - Mooney finally comes online and says "ah, yes, this is the Mooney over the field, request permission to land at Oshkosh." Literally 1000' AGL over the middle of the field. Unreal.

I wonder how far back liveatc recordings are available. Would love to find that one.
 
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Jay Honeck said:
So what's the gist of the article? Someone hates Oshkosh?
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Apparently she flew to Disney World with another pilot, who she assumes had the hots for her when he probably didn't. She then goes on to talk about how much she hates Disney.... ******* about the cost, how many children there are there (*gasp* children at Disney?!!!), the long lines, and then makes fun of two moms who she calls fat. ****ily, she moves along in her Disney tirade to further insult the guy she flew with, calling him obnoxious and whiny like the kids. Apparently, she then felt the need to unload her displeasure upon a "nice" employee, enough to where he ended up giving her her money back.

She then begins her OSH tirade, which I didn't bother reading. She sounds like a nasty, self-important, miserable person and I really don't care what those kind of people have to say.
 
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Jay Honeck said:
Smart man. FloridaPilot has no idea how much people drink at Oshkosh!
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I was actually really surprised that they don't sell alcohol. We had a couple beers at SOS and also Friar Tucks but mostly a dry event.
I bet they would make a killing if they had a couple tiki huts selling frosty glasses of whatnot.
 
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